Panetta: Church helps theater start

Friday

Oct 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMOct 31, 2008 at 9:00 PM

Doubt and doctrine don't always go together. But they do at Canton's First Congregational United Church of Christ, 159 N. Second Ave., which is sponsoring a fledgling theater group whose first production is "Doubt, A Parable."

GARY PANETTA

Doubt and doctrine don't always go together.

But they do at Canton's First Congregational United Church of Christ, 159 N. Second Ave., which is sponsoring a fledgling theater group whose first production is "Doubt, A Parable."

This prize-winning play by John Patrick Stanley (best-known for his screenplay "Moonstruck") squares nicely with the mission of Many Lights Stage Productions: To produce quality plays that make a difference by tackling controversies and presenting new points of view.

"Doubt," which runs next weekend (and later this month at Corn Stock's Winter Playhouse in an unrelated production), fits the bill. Set in a Catholic school in 1964, the play revolves around the clash between an old-school, by-the-book nun named Sister Aloysius and a Vatican II-style liberal priest named Father Flynn, who, in the sister's opinion, is becoming a little too friendly with a male student. In fact, Sister Aloysius accuses Father Flynn of sexual abuse, although she can't prove it.

Simply summarized, the play might appear to be either an expose of wrongdoing by the Catholic clergy or a straight-forward good-and-evil struggle between a conservative zealot and well-meaning religious liberal caught in the crosshairs.

But Stanley doesn't let his viewers off so easily. Sister Aloysius is no cardboard villain, Father Flynn is no cardboard saint, and it's not entirely clear who is guilty of what. And this very unclarity is the point: "Doubt" is about the drama of uncertainty, of what happens when our cocksure assumptions get blown apart.

Director Bob Gorg, a retired theater professor from Spoon River College, says the play reverberates strongly with contemporary events - particularly with the Bush administration's commitment to pre-emptive war, intervention in Iraq, employment of interrogation methods human rights activists consider the equivalent of torture, and secret surveillance of American citizens, all in the name of a global struggle of good against evil. Gorg is by no means the only person who has made this connection.

"I don't view this as a political play at all," Gorg said. "But in working with it, I've just seen so many parallels between what's happened in this country in the last eight years and the themes this play is going for. We went to war with an administration morally certain that (a) they were doing the right thing, that (b) there were weapons of mass destruction.

"They were certain of it. And yet they were wrong. But because of their certainty, thousands have paid with their lives, the country is spinning into perhaps a depression. And if somewhere along the way people had stopped and questioned their own certainty, some of this could have been avoided."

"Doubt" is the first of what is hoped to be many productions at the First Congregational United Church of Christ. (A second play for a projected two-play season has not been selected yet, and directors are being sought.) Many Lights Stage Productions grew out of presentations by the church - including a production of "The Laramie Project" a few years ago - that focused on peace-and-justice issues as well as tolerance for gays and lesbians, said Gordon James, church president.

When Gorg retired from Spoon River but still had an interest in directing, James said the church decided that sponsoring a theater group dealing with thought-provoking issues would be appropriate.

"The key term for what we do is 'plays that make a difference,' " James said. "We're not looking to do plays that are musicals or comedies unless the comedy happens to fit in. We want something that addresses either a controversial issue or social injustice."

"Doubt" lasts about 90 minutes with no intermission and features community theater actors Shirley Shannon, Terri Shafer, Aaron Haacke and Dee Zaborac.

Gary Panetta is the fine arts columnist and a critic for the Journal Star. He can be reached at 686-3132 or gpanetta@pjstar.com. Write to him at 1 News Plaza, Peoria, IL 61643.

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